George Oehlers

George Edward Noel Oehlers was born to George Rae Oehlers and his wife Frances Maude Oehlers. He attended St Andrew's School in Singapore and then the city's Raffles Institution.[2][3]

In 1928, Oehlers was called to the bar at Gray's Inn and practised as a barrister in London for three years.[3] He returned to Singapore, and became a City Councillor in 1933, serving until 1941; he returned to the City Council in 1947, but left ahead of his appointment on 1 April 1955 as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Singapore.[3][5] He left that post in September 1963 to chair the Public Utilities Board from 1 November,[3][6] From 1963 to 1964, he was also the Speaker for the Sabah Legislative Assembly and helped to set up the Sabah Legislative Assembly.[4][7] From 1965, he was Chairman of Singapore's Industrial Arbitration Tribunal and, finally, from June 1965 to his death, he was President of the Industrial Court of Malaysia.[3]

Oehlers married Daphne Eleanor Pye on 20 April 1940. They had five children: Jillian, Lynnette, Harry, John, and Catharine. Daphne Eleanor Pye died on 15 April 1960, and Oehlers remarried on July 1965 to Annie (Nan) Tessensohn née Flynn, a widow.[3][4]

He died in Kuala Lumpur on 27 October 1968 and was buried in Bidadari Cemetery, Singapore.[3][4]

Oehlers was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1953, and Knight Bachelor in 1958 for his public service in Singapore.[3][4][8][9]